BY DANNY BOOHER
PITTSBURGH - Members of the United Mine Workers of America
(UMWA) on strike against Freeman United Coal Co. are speaking
out against an FBI attack on their strike.
According to David Yard, two FBI agents showed up at the door of his 86-year-old grandmother, Georgia Yard, November 6. David Yard is a striking member of UMWA Local 1969 who works at Freeman's Crown 2 mine in Virden, Illinois. Yard is also a trustee on the UMWA's Miner's Relief Fund.
Locals 1969, 12, and 2488 of the UMWA struck Freeman on September 11, after the company refused to negotiate a contract that would guarantee health benefits for retired miners. Freeman is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation.
In a phone interview, David Yard said the two FBI agents told Georgia Yard they wanted to search a shed on her property. She replied that they could not and asked if they had a search warrant.
When the agents realized they would get nowhere, they left.
Three days later, FBI agent Terrence Moody and another agent showed up at Georgia Yard's door with a search warrant signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron G. Cudmore. The search warrant targeted "a gray metal shed" and was searching for "jackrocks, bent nails, other small sharp metal objects, double pointed nails, a welder, grinder, a file, and other tools suitable for making jackrocks." Nothing was found. The FBI agents were told to leave the property after their search.
The FBI attack on the Yard family follows a series of attempts to portray the strikers as violent and criminal. The Springfield Journal Register ran a lead article October 31 titled, "Mine troubles take an ugly turn." It reported that a number of area families had their "homes pelted with paint- filled light bulbs and their driveways peppered with `jackrocks.' " The article quotes Susan Fox, the wife of a mine manager at Freeman and David Yard's sister. Both Fox and her husband are former UMWA members. The newspaper also carries a lengthy letter to the editor from Fox saying, "I don't condone criminal activity in any way shape or form. I also feel that any person aware of criminal defacing of personal property or any other type of criminal offense that doesn't speak out against such acts, are just as guilty as the one committing the crime."
Freeman spokesperson Steve Cindrich was quoted as saying, "The company has never blamed UMWA workers for these acts of vandalism." The November 13, Taylorville Breeze-Courier describes Cindrich as saying he did not know anything about a search warrant being issued to the FBI. But then he goes on, "We have added security at different points because of these acts of vandalism."
Earlier this month a Sangamon County judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent strikers from coming within 1,000 feet of company bosses. The police chief of Virden said officers will keep a watch for "suspicious" vehicles. "We'll be trying to check anybody that basically shouldn't be driving around at two or three in the morning on side streets, unless we know who they are and where they are going." Girard, Illinois, police said they are putting on extra patrols.
Miners respond to the FBI harassment
Greg Mahan, president of Local 1969, told the Taylorville
Breeze-Courier, "No one in the union has been involved in any
type of vandalism which has been reported since the strike
began. We go on the picket line and cause no problems, and we
don't do anything to intimidate any of the security at the
picket lines." Mahan explained( "It has been known in the past,
Vance security employees used tactics to intimidate the
strikers and try to provoke reaction to some of the things they
say. They are threatening in their behavior to the strikers.
They often take pictures to later use to influence the
strikers."
The striking miners have issued a leaflet with a picture of Georgia Yard alerting supporters and people in the community to the FBI visit. The leaflet is titled, "You want to search my house for what?!" The leaflet shows a copy of the search warrant and asks for support "to help the Freeman miners stand strong." The leaflet and letters to the editor from miners have been sent out to area newspapers.
The strikers sent two of their members to the Labor Party convention held in Pittsburgh November 13-15 to explain the latest attack on the strike and to win support for their fight (see article on facing page). The miners set up a table and were able to distribute information about their strike and hand out hundreds of flyers on the FBI harassment.
Greg Mahan told the Militant in a phone interview, "From day one we organized ourselves to practice no violence in our strike. The FBI was trying to intimidate David's grandmother and David. They wanted him to react and to use that against our strike. It's the company and their goons who want to intimidate our members. They want to break our strike."
"We have been very active in the strike," Yard explained to the Militant. "My grandmother is almost 87 years old and has survived three heart attacks. The FBI are nothing more than strike breakers. Their goal is to intimidate people like myself and our membership.
"We have been very effective," Yard continued. "We are broadening out our fight against Freeman and the company doesn't like that. We have won support from many different unions in the Midwest. Small business owners and individuals from as far away as Des Moines, Iowa, have sent support to our strike. Area unions are taking up plant gate collections and have sent truck loads of food for our food pantry at strike headquarters. We will continue to speak to other unions to get their support and to warn them about what the company is doing."
Both Mahan and Yard said that the strike and the UMWA membership are stronger than they have ever been. "We will not let Freeman intimidate us," they declared.
An October 30 press release issued by the UMWA reports that negotiations between the union and Freeman broke off when the union rejected a proposal that would drastically limit employees' seniority rights for the purposes of recall and job bidding. There are no new negotiations set.
--EXTRA--
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on November 18
Freeman filed a $1 million federal suit in a U.S. District
Court. The press release issued by the company cites the
International Union of the UMWA, District 12, and UMWA Locals
12, 1969, and 2488, alleging the "union made demands that are
illegal under the National Labor Relations Act and then engaged
in a strike to enforce those demands." The release goes on to
say, "Freeman United also claims that the UMWA engaged in a
strike, violence and other acts to enforce its illegal demands.
The strike, threats, damages to property, obstruction of
roadways and assaults on persons entering or leaving Freeman
United's property are cited in the suit." Look for coverage of
these developments in an upcoming issue of the Militant.